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CU-Boulder unveils new $160M biotechnology building

Hub will house 60 faculty members and more than 500 researchers, support staff

By Brittany Anas Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
04/25/2012 07:12:04 PM MDT

Updated:
04/25/2012 10:48:02 PM MDT

Facts about CU's new biotechnology building

975,000 bricks were used on the exterior.

10,000 pieces of cut limestone were used for its construction.

3,400 pieces of glass were used during window construction.

The ductwork of the building weighs about 338 tons.

There are 44 miles of piping throughout the building, which has four wings.

The building's labs are modular and can be changed to accommodate the evolving needs of scientists and students.

The University of Colorado this week is debuting its new, $160 million biotechnology building, designed to be a science hub where researchers collaborate to solve a wide range of societal challenges such as treatment of cancer and heart disease, advancements in tissue engineering and creation of new biofuels.

The 336,800-square-foot building will house 60 faculty members and more than 500 researchers and support staff members. Dozens of graduates and undergraduates will also be working in the new, high-tech labs with specialized temperature controls and stations that can be reconfigured.

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Some of CU's most famous scientists are set up in the new Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building, including Tom Cech, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry while at CU in 1989.

The official dedication of the building near Colorado Avenue and Foothills Parkway will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday. Scheduled guests include biotechnology industry leaders as well as former Gov. Bill Ritter, CU Chancellor Phil DiStefano and CU President Bruce Benson.

The design concept of the building consists of research neighborhoods -- a "main street" corridor surrounded by clusters of offices -- meant to foster collaboration among scientists from different disciplines. Roomy lounge areas are also intended to draw scientists together.

Now, scientists are scattered throughout the campus in different buildings.

"People will be walking by and they'll see somebody writing on the white board and they'll say, 'Oh, I didn't know that you were working on that. I have a project in that area, too,' and strike up a conversation," Cech said while guiding a tour of the building Wednesday.

He calls it the "cross-fertilization of ideas."

Researchers and students in the building will work on health issues including cancer, cardiovascular disease, inherited diseases and vaccine development. They will also explore energy topics, such as developing sophisticated membrane materials to capture carbon dioxide.

One interdisciplinary research effort that will take place in the building is being led by distinguished professor Kristi Anseth of the chemical and biological engineering department to continue the development of injectable, biodegradable "scaffolds" to regenerate cartilage for human joints and also the regeneration of skin, blood vessels and bone.

Anseth's research team is working with professor Leslie Leinwand of the molecular, cellular and developmental biology department on a tissue engineering effort to develop replacement heart valves.

University of Colorado doctoral candidate? and research assistant Dennis Macejak works to de-stain protein gel Wednesday at the new Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology building.
(
Jeremy Papasso
)

Cech said the university already has a remarkable track record when it comes to inventing new approaches to diseases and alternative energy, and the new building will help accelerate that process.

The biotechnology building is housing CU's Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, the Division of Biochemistry and the Biofrontiers Institute. The institute began in 2003 and is directed by Cech.

Colorado's bioscience industry generates more than $400 million in state taxes every year and supports roughly 36,000 employees at more than 375 companies, according to the state Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

Tom Cech, director of the University of Colorado's Biofrontiers Institute, holds a solution used to isolate RNA on Wednesday at the new biotechnology building.
(Jeremy Papasso)

"This research facility is going to bring together people with a lot of different backgrounds, and we have great faith that they will be turning over new ground and finding new pathways to help mankind resolve many of our challenges," Gov. John Hickenlooper said in a statement.

The building is being funded by private donations -- roughly $48 million to date -- as well as $15 million from the National Institutes of Health through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and money from the university and state. The university has set a $75 million fundraising goal that it hopes to reach by June 2014.

The building was named after the late wife of CU distinguished professor Marvin Caruthers of the chemistry and biochemistry department who committed $20 million to the building prior to its 2009 groundbreaking.

The university is also planning an additional wing to house labs and classrooms in the biotechnology complex. The school has asked the state for $26.9 million for the $31.7 million project.

Bernardino Dehuma ?works on the flower beds in front of the new biotechnology building at the University of Colorado on Wednesday.
(
Jeremy Papasso
)

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